Hoisting apparatus for candle-finishing machines



E. J. ENGMAN.

HOISTING APPARATUS FOR CANDLE FINISHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-19,19I7.

Patented June 22, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l- ATTORNEY.

E. I. ENGMAN.

HO-ISTING APPARATUS FOR CANDLE FINISHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9, I917- Patented June 22, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I I,

6 INVENTO/P Br g r E ATTORNEY.

5. 1. ENGMAN. HOISTING APPARATUS FOR CANDLE FINISHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.19, I917.

Patented June 22, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

4 Q 3 m k f H k m an m t i II Q 3 a s4 b a R. a a 3 i R R sq w Q. X a Q Kw Im- H E" Q 3 5 N o o O O H- G a. O i is a m VENTOI? ATTORNEY.

E. .I. ENGMAN.

HOISTING APPARATUS FOR CANDLE FINISHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I9, I9I7.

Patented June 22, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4i IVESSES ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE.

EVALD J. ENGMAN, or SYRACUSE, EW YORK, ASSIGNOB -TO THE- WILL & BAUMEIR COMPANY, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A conroaarron'or NEW YORK.

HOISTING APPARATUS FOR, CANbLE-FINISHING -MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent J Patented J e 22 1920 Application filed December 19, 1917. Serial No. 207,900.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEVALD J. ENGMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hoisting Apparatus for Candle Finishing Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in hoisting apparatus adapted to be used in machines for finishing candles, andis somewhat similar to that set forth in my Patent No. 1,114,871, October 27, 1914., for

raising and lowering the candle supporting carriage.

In the patent referred to, the carriage for drawing the candles through the finishing dies is started in its upwardmovement by a counterweight which is just sufficient to overbalance the carriage with the candles thereon exclusive of the resistance due to drawing the candles through the dies, said starting movement being utilized to operate a clutch as a part of a power-driven mechanism for positively raising the carriage through the remainder of its upward movement in drawing the candles through the dies. 7

It has been found, however, that the positive and uniform speed of feed of candles of different densities of'the same or different materials, or under different temperatures, is objectionable in that it is liable to produce more or less imperfections, such as breaks or flaws, in the finished surface, and the main object of my present invention is to overcome these objections by controlling the speed of feed according. to the nature of the material of which, the candles are made, or rather according to the resistance of the dies in feeding the candles therethrough; I a

One of the specific objects is to feed the carriage with the candles thereon through its entire upward movement by weightdriven means and to control the speed ,of'

such movement in such mannenthat the speed will be reduced as the reslstanceto the draft of the candles through the dies increases. I I s p A further object isto provide 'meansfor varying the maximum speed permitted to the upward movement of the. carriage.

Other objects and uses relating to specificparts of the apparatus will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings- Figurel 1s a front elevation of a candle- .finishing machine embodying the features Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view through the upper portion of the machine, taken on line 5- 5., Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view, partly in elevation, of a part of the automatic clutch-releasing'mechanism for stopping the carriage after the candles have been drawn through the dies.

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view ofthe motor-driven wormand gear for operating the drum 'or sprocket for the carriage-com trolling cable.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view of the die-supporting frame and dies therein, together with a portion of the carriage in its extreme down position wherein the candle-supporting rods project through the dies.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on-line 9-9, Fig. 1, showingunderlying portions of the carriage and diesupporting frame, togetherwith a portion 01fl tfhe hand lever for the variable speed gear s i t. I T

Fig. 10 is an enlarged inverted plan of the primary clutch andjits shifting means.

Fig. 11 isan enlarged detail sectional view of the same clutch, shown inF1g.'10.

The die supporting frame -.1 and dies l2-,- together with the carriage -3 and same as shown in my patent referred to.

guides therefor, are substantially the I That is, the supporting frame (preferably consists of a hollow casing having a heating chamber -.5 and a series of vertical tubes 6 extending therethrough frpm topto bottom for receiving. andsupportmg iio a corresponding number of the tubular dies -2-,' said tubes being arranged in uniformly spaced relation so as to allow the heating agent in the chamber 5' to ,entirely surround the'same. H

The dies 2 are closely fitted within and extend through the tubes -6 and are provided with vertical openings therethrough tapered from bottomto top to compress and impart the desired finish to the surface of the candles in transit there through. v

The chamber 5 is provided with an inlet 7 and an outlet 8 ,to permit the circulation of steam or other agent therethrough This heating agent imparts its heat to the dies 2- for the purpose of softening the surface of the candles and permitting them to be more expeditiously and highly finished as they are progressively drawn through. the dies.

The guides 4L for the carriage are secured at their lower ends to opposite ends 'of the frame or casing 1- and ex tend upwardly in parallelism to substantially the same height sufiicient to allow the proper movement of thepcarriage 3- for drawing the candles from a position below through and some distance above the dies, the upper ends of the guides being Connected by, a yoke or cap The carriage -3- is provided with lower and upper pairs of hubs 10. movable along and upon the guides +4- and is also provided at its lower end with pendent parallel rods 11 terminating in hooks -l2 for attachment to the wicks, as a-, of their respective candlesA', the rods 11 being alined vertically with the openings in their respective dies 2- so as to pass therethrough when the carriage is lowered to its extreme down position, in which position the hooks -12 are disposed in a plane below the lower ends of the dies where they are accessiblefor the attachment of the candle wicks thereto by the operator. i

A hand lever or link l3- is pivotally attached to the central upper portion of the carriage to be engaged by the operator for moving the carriage by hand if desired, as for example in drawing it down preparatory to placing the candles on the hooks Suitable means is provided for tempo rarily locking the carriage in its extreme down position, and for this purpose I have provided an automatic locking member pivotally mounted on one side of the carriage frame 3 to swing horizontally into and'o'ut of a position directly under the lower end of a stop rod 15 which-is secured at its upper end to the yoke 9- and extends downwardly therefrom parallel with the guide rods 4. to a point just above the limit of downward movement of the locking member 14 so that when the car-- riage is brought to its extreme downward position, the locking lever -lL- will be rocked by a spring 14 under the lower end of the stop rod -15 to temporarily Carriage-raising means.

The means for raising the carriage to draw the candles through the dies preferably comprises a chain or cable 16 having one end attached to the central upper portion of the carriage frame, as shown in Fig. 1, and its other end passed over a sprocket wheel or sheave -17 and attached to a weight -18--, Fig. 2, which is sufliciently heavy to draw the carriage upwardly against any ordinary resistance between the candles and dies, but is readily responsive to such resistance so that if the latter is excessive the upward lift of the carriage will be correspondingly slow, thereby preventing excessive tension on the candles which might produce flaws or breaks in the surface thereof, or if the resistance should be so great as to stop the carriage against the action of the weight, said carriage might readily be fed upwardly at the desired slow speed by means of the hand lever l3 with the assistance of the weight, it being understood that the weight +18- is carefully selected to just slightly overbalance .ing rotated by the chain or cable .l.6- as the carriage and weight are raised and lowcred.

Speed-control.

It is important in apparatus of this character that the movement of the candles through the dies shall be steady and sufli cientlyslow to give the desired finish without cracks or flaws, and at the same time to prevent overstraining of the candles in case the resistance between the candles and dies is excessive during such movement, and in order that these results may be accomplished in a simple manner,'I have provided what may be termed a motor-driven controller for preventing the feed of the candlesabove a predetermined speed and allowing them to be fed at a slower speed without affecting V the speed of the controlling motor. 10 7 side of the overhead support or yoke 9 for receiving and supporting a clutch collar --24- and a pair of gears Z5, said shaft being held against axial movement'by the clutch section 22 and a collar 26 both of which are tight on the shaft and engage opposite ends of oneof the bearings eo"-.

lVhen the carriage is at its extreme limit of downward movement in which it is held by the detent 'll against the action of the weight l8-, the clutch members 21-- and 22 are disengaged, as shown in Fig. 5, to allow free rotation of the shaft independently thereof, 'but are thrown into engagement with each other immediately upon the beginning of the upward movement of the carriage by said weight, and in order that this interengagement of the clutches maybe effected automatically, the clutchsection i-21 is provided with a cam 27- adapted to ride against the end of a pivoted shifting member 28 on the adjacent bearing 20, Fig. 10, as said collar is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrows inthe same figure, at the beginning of the lifting movement of the carriage by the weight'-18 thereby establishing a locking connection between the cable-driven'sleev'e 19 and shaft 23 and causing said shaft to be tolimit its movement in the direction'of movement of the collar during the raising of the carriage, but is free to move in the opposite direction against the action of the spring when the direction of motion of the collar is reversed by the downward movement of the carriage without closing the clutch, it belng understood that the spring .2) is comparatively light and of just 1 sufficient tension to member 28.

These clutch. members usually remain. in

return the shifting engagement during the entire upward move ment of the carriage in drawing the candles through their respective dies,-but are automatically disengaged when. the carriage reaches the-limit of its upward movement.

For this latter purpose, the clutch collar 2l is provided with an annular groove for receivingthe forked arms of a shifting member 3l-which is secured to a sliding rod -32- on-the bearings 20 as shown more clearly in Fig. 10, one end of said rod being extended into proximity to the stoprod, 15, as shown in Fig. 6,

and is bifurcated to receive one end of a bell-crank lever 33-.,v the .latter being pivoted at 34r-to the adjacent bearing '20' and has its other arm engaged. in a slot -85- in the upright stop bar 15-.

The bar -15 has a slight endwise or vertical movement suflicient to operate the bell-crank lever 3 and rod -32 to disengage the clutch member -21 from its companion clutch --22 and is provided with a collar +36 adjustably secured thereto by set screw 37 and adapted to project into the 'path of upward movement of one of the hubs 10- on the carriage as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, said collar 36 being so adjusted that as soon as the candles are drawn entirely through and slightly above their respective dies, the adjacent hub l0+ 011 the carriage will engage the under side thereof, thereby lifting the rod -15+- to operate the bellcrank; lever 33 and rod -3Q sufficiently to disengage the clutch. member -21 from its companion clutch 22,

thereby: releasing the sleeve -1.9 and sprocket wheel l7' from connection with the shaft -23.. v I

Further upward movement of the carriage is limited by a stop collar 38 on the rod 15- adapted to engage the under side of a stationary :part ,-39 of the overhead support or yoke -9,.

I The carriageis held in its extreme ups positionby theJweight 18 at the will of the operator to allow ample time for the removal of the finished candles A from their supporting hooks -12, whereupon the carriagemay be returned to its extreme "down position by the hand lever 13;

against the action of the weight ---18 ready to receive another set of candles which i are to be finished.

During this downward movement of the carriage, the rod 15- is free to return to its normal position by its own weight, but is limited in its return movement by another stop -38-- similar to the stop 38- and adapted to engage the upper face of the stationary part 39-.

When the carriage is thus brought to the limit of its downward movement, the detent -141 is rocked by spring 14' to a position directly under the lower end of the rod 15 so that when the carriage is released, it will be moved upwardly a short distance by the weight, thereby carrying the rod l5- with it until the latter is limited by the engagement ofthe shoulder with the under face of the stationary part S9, it being understood that during this time the clutch member-21- remains in its open position and that the arm of the bell-V crank lever adjacent the shifting rod 32-- is free to play in the slot in the end thereof, or until said rod is shifted endwise by the rotation of the cam 27 against the shifting member -28. v i

A spring-operated friction stop l0 is spring-pressed into engagement with notches in the shifting rod 32'- totemporarily hold the latter and clutch member operated thereby in either of its shifted positions. i

The clutch member -24 which is the direct means for controlling the'speed'of rotation of the shaft --23 and consequently the speed of upward movement of the carriage as the candles are being drawn through the dies is feathered upon said shaft to move into and out of engagement with a companion clutch section on the adjacent end of the hub of the gears -25-, which gears are preferably made integral, but of different diametral pitch to permit the shaft to be rotated at different speedsin a manner hereinafter described, said clutchsection 24?- being normally held in engagement with its companion by a coil spring -%l1 surrounding the shaft and having one end engaged with said clutch member and its other end engaged by an adjustable collar -42 also mounted on the shaft to regulate the tension of the spring.

Another collar 4L3 is secured to the shaft at the opposite end of the hub of the gears 25 to cooperate with the clutch collar in normallydholding the gears -25 against axial movement.

The gears 25 are driven by one or the other of a pair of integrally connected pinions 4:4-- which are slidableon a countershaft 45 by means of a shifting lever 4-6 on the end of an upright rod -4"('- having its lower end connected to the vhub of a hand lever e This hand lever is movable about a toothed rack 49 on the die case 1, Figs. 2 and 9,to'temporarily hold the gears -4:4 in their adjusted positions.

The active portions of the gears l4 are spaced apart a distance greater than the combined width of the gears -25- to allow said pinions to be shifted to a neutral position or at opposite ends of the gears --25, or either pinion may be shifted into engagement with its corresponding gear as may be desired to impart the proper speed to the shaft -23.

The countershaft -45 a 'is journaled in suitable bearings 50 forming a part of a supplemental overhead frame -51- which also carries an electric motor '52 having its armature shaft provided with a worm -53 engaging a worm wheel 54 on the countershaft 45 for causing said countershaft and pinions thereon to rotate at a relatively slow speed, while the relative sizes of the pinions 44 and gears -45 cause the shaft --23- to rotate at a still slower speed.

The clutch teeth between the collar 24- and hub of thegears -25- tend to transmit motion from the shaft -23- to said gears, while either pinion -44 meshing with its companion gear 25 drives said gears in the same direction.

It "is now evident that when the motor is in action andone or the other of the pinions in mesh with itscorresponding gear 25-, said gears will be driven at a constant, but slow, speed and being loose on the shaft may turn freely independently thereof, or while the carriage is at rest thus permitting the motor to operate continuously.

It is also evident that as soon as the carriage is released by the tripping of the detent 14, it will be drawn upwardly by the weight 18-, thereby throwing the clutch members 21- and -22- into engagement throu'gh the medium of the cam -27 to cause rotation of the shaft -23, but owing to the interlocking engagement of the clutch member 24.- on said shaft with the adjacent clutehface on the hub of the gears -Q5, the speed of movement of the carriage will be thereby retarded to that by reason of the specific arrangement of the teeth between clutch 24 and hub of said gears which allows said teeth to slip one by the other, or if the resistance to the passage offlthe candles through the dies should be sufiicientto stop the carriage, the same slipping effect between the gears -25 and -carriage reaches the limit of its upward movement and the candles have been withdrawn from the dies, further upward movement of the carriage is stopped by the engagement of one of the upper hubs 10 with the collar 36, thereby operating the bell-crank lever 33 and rod -32 to disengage the clutch section 21 from its companion 22-, thereby disconnecting the sprocket wheel 17 from the shaft 23, while at the same time the stop 38 engages the stationary abutment 39 to further limit such upward movement under the action of the weight -18;

WVhen the finished candles have been removed from their respective supports 12-, the carriage maybe returnedto its initial starting position ready to receive another set of candles to be operated upon in the manner previously described.

Aside from establishing a driving connection between the constantly driven gears 25 and shaft 23 when the clutch 21- is disengaged from its companion 22- and its additional function of limiting the speed of rotation of said shaft by the carriage-operating weight when said clutch members -21 and 22 are engaged and thereby preventing excessive speed of feed of the candle-supporting carriage, a still further function of the slip drive is to steady the upward movement of the carriage, particularly in preventing a sudden jerk incidental to overcoming the in-' ertia of the carriage and parts carried thereby during the starting operation, or while the cam -27 is shifting the clutch member 21 into engagement with its companion -22, because under those conditions the speed of rotation of the shaft, due to said inertia, would be temporarily slower than that of the constantly driven gears 25 and would cause the clutch member 24- to slip relatively to its companion clutch face on the hub of said gears, which would also compensate for any imperfect engagement between the teeth of the clutch members 21 and 22 during such starting movement. r i

What I claim is 1. In a candle finishing machine the ,com bination of a vertically reciprocatory can dle carried adapted to be moved downwardly at will, mechanical retracting means including a rotary element for raising the carriage, a separately rotatable element, means including a clutch for transmitting motion from thefirst named element to the second named element, an additional rotary element, means including a clutch for transmitting motion from the second named element to the additional element and means for driving said additional element at a constant relatively slow speed for preventing excessive speed of movement of the carriage raising means.

'2. In a candle finishing machine the combination of a vertically reciprocatory candle carrier adapted to be moved downwardly at will, mechanical retracting means including a rotary element for, raising the carriage, a separately rotatable element, means including a clutch for transmitting motion from the first named element to the second named element, an additional rotary element, means including a clutch for transmitting motion fromthe second named element to the additional element and means for driving said" additional element at a constant relatively slow speed for preventing excessive speed of movement of the carriage rais ing means, the second named clutch being spring pressed to its operative position.

3. In a candle finishing machine the combination of a vertically reciprocatory candle carrier adapted to be moved downwardly at will, mechanicalretracting means including a rotary element for raising the carriage, a separately rotatable element, means including a clutch for transmitting .motion from the first named element to the second named element, an additional rotary element, means including a clutch for trans mitting motion from the second named element to the additional element and means for driving said additional element at a constant relatively slow speed for preventing excessive speed of movement of the carriage raising means, the second named clutch being free to slip in case the carriage is raised at a slower rate ofspeed than that permitted by the constant speed of movement of said additional rotary element.

4. In a machine for finishing candles the combination of a finishing die, weight-operated means including a rotary element for drawinga candle through the die, an additional rotary element, means for driving said additional rotary element at a constant speed, and means including a clutch for transmitting motion from one of said rotary elements to the other, saidclutch being freeto slip in case the speedof rotation of the first named rotary element is less than that permitted by the constant speed of the second named rotary element.

5. In a candle finishing machine the combination of a die, a, vertically reciprocatory candle carrier for drawing a candle through the die, a rotary wheel, a cable attached to the carrier and passing over said wheel, a

weight attached to the cable for reyolying the wheel and raising the carrier, a rotary shaft, means including a clutch for transmitting motion from said Wheel to the shaft, as the carrier is raised, a rotary gear and driving connections between said shaft and gear including a clutch.

6. In a candlefinishing machine the combination of a finishing die, .a vertically reciprocatory candle carrier for drawing the candle through the die, a rotary shaft, a sheave loosely mounted coaxial with the shaft, a cable passed over the sheave and having one end connected withthe carr er and its other end provided w th a Weight for raising the carrier, means including a clutch for transmitting motion from the sheave to the shaft, a loose gear coaxial with the shaft, means for driving the gear at a constant speed andclutch connections between the shaft and gear capable of slip ping in case the shaft shoilld be driven at a slower rate of speed than that of the gear.

7. In a candlefinishing machine thec0mbination of a die, a vertically reciprocatory messes candleca rier for, drawing, a candle through the die, a rotary shaft, a,wheel-,coapgia1 with the shaft and rotatableindependently there of, a cable passed oyer the wheel andhav- 1g. Q east c nn ct d to he a a Weight attached tothe opposite end of the cable for raising the carrier, means including a, clutch for transmitting motion from thewheel to the shaft, a gear loose on the shaft and provided with a clutch face, a clutchv feathered on the shaft and spring pressed axially intoengagement with the clutch face .of the {gear and. means for driving the gear, at a constant speed, said clutch being free to slip relativelyto the clutch face of the gear in case the shaft should be rotated at a speed; less than that of, the gear. I

In witness whereof I- have. hereunto set my hand this 8th, day vof; December, 1917.

H,- -Y C S A C MyM QAHNQN- 

